The Vatican on Tuesday called the health condition of Pope Francis "guarded" and "complex" as he remained in a stable condition with double pneumonia, according to officials.

Pope Francis, batting double pneumonia in hospital, remained stable throughout the day on Tuesday and did not have any new respiratory crises, the Vatican said.Francis, 88, had suffered two episodes of what the Vatican described as "acute respiratory insufficiency" on Monday.

Pope Francis has been placed back on mechanical ventilation following medical episodes after 17 days in the hospital. The Vatican announced in

Pope Francis suffered two new acute respiratory crises Monday and was put back on noninvasive mechanical ventilation, in another setback to his battle to fight pneumonia, the Vatican said. Doctors extracted “copious” amounts of mucus from his lungs during two bronchoscopies,

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The Vatican said the mucus was the body’s reaction to the original pneumonia infection and not a new infection, given laboratory tests don’t indicate any new bacteria. Francis remained alert, oriented and cooperated with medical personnel.

Pope Francis was up and receiving therapy on Monday after going off mechanical ventilation and showing no sign of new infection following a respiratory crisis late last week, the Vatican said. Heidi Schlumpf,

Pope Francis' condition remains stable on March 4, with no episodes of respiratory failure or bronchospasm, according to Vatican News. The Vatican press office stated that the Pope did not experience any respiratory distress or bronchospasms today.

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